This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) classifies autonomous drive (AD) systems into a variety of different categories based on functionality. Some AD systems are very basic, purely independent automated components (such as adaptive cruise control and emergency braking systems). Other more advanced AD systems are fully terrain-independent autonomous driving systems. A major difference between the basic and complex AD systems is that, with the complex AD systems, the responsibility to monitor current driving conditions is transferred from an operator to the autonomous drive system. Such complex AD systems must operate under dense traffic conditions, and, consequently, face numerous challenging driving situations. Merging into a densely populated lane is particularly difficult for traditional autonomous driving systems, as there is often a need to perform complex, human-like behaviors to successfully and comfortably negotiate these scenarios. For example, a traditional autonomous driving system may wait for a remote vehicle to let it in; whereas a human driver may make proactive moves, such as shift slowly over to communicate their intention to merge to the surrounding vehicles, which are, in turn, subsequently more likely to make space. The present disclosure addresses these differences and potential issues with the autonomous driving systems.